Shireen

Blogroll

Meta

Posts tagged ‘The Wrap Up’

She is the name on everyone’s lips right now, from industry experts, to music artists, to fans; Little Simz is killing it right now. Keeping the heat on her (which isn’t hard for her), the 20-year-old North London rapper drops the video to ‘The Hamptons’ which is another visual taken from her critically acclaimed E.D.G.E EP. The video truly captures the meaning and ethos of the track that is produced by Da-P (Soulection) and features cameos from singer Kali Uchis and Ricky Bricks from THC.

Yellows and Paigey Cakey both from the Alwayz Recording camp joined forces for Yellows new track ‘Cake’. The two MC’s play on the meaning of the word cake, from the sweet food, to money, to a women’s soft disposition over a bassy, lively beat, with the pairs vocals complementing each other from Yellows deep tone to Paigey’s sweet one. This track will be on Yellows’ forthcoming mixtape ‘No Ego’ watch out for that one!

Black The Ripper’s new track introduced us to his forthcoming project too, ‘Outlaw Volume 2 ‘which is due to be released at the end of August. In true Samson style we see the lyricist spit some realness about his thoughts from the music business to life in general in ‘I Don’t Feel Nothin’, “Industry don’t like me, but I ain’t here to make mates”. On the hook providing us with vocals is Tayong.

South London’s Youngs Teflons has shown a lot of other people up who have attempted to remix Drake’s 0-100, as last week he released a video putting his own spin on it. He has some serious wordplay on this track and an effortless, natural flow that really proves why he is one of the most rated lyricists about. Listen to these clever bars properly and take in what Tefs is saying.

Dot Rotten released his anticipated mixtape ‘Interview’ full of diverse but brilliant tracks from start to finish. With various and varied artists featuring such as Abel Miller, Lady Leshurr, Stylo G and more, the tracks cover numerous subjects from the music industry, label issues which he sets straight, women and more. Dot has again created a work of art which you can download over at minarmydownloads.com.

We’ve been hearing a lot from the Disturbing LDN and Parlophone rapper G Frsh as of late, as he gets us ready for his forthcoming EP ‘Alfie’; slated for an August release. He gave fans a present in the form of a free download for new track ‘The Hardest Part’ which of course sees G hitting us with some hard bars, and Sonny Reeves (also signed to Disturbing LDN) providing him with the vocals over a laid back beat.

Fresh from his ‘Lost Soul’ mixtape release, North London’s Coops keeps the work rate levels high and drops another visual from the tape ‘Rap Masterclass’ which seems to be set in Amsterdam. Produced by Talos, this is another banger with an old school hip hop vibe from a very talented and rising lyricist that a lot of people are calling one to watch. Coops matches laid back flows and beats to deliver us something special.

Now if you haven’t heard of Potter Payper, honestly I don’t know where you have been. Fresh from his incarceration, he is back to tear the streets apart as he shows why he is one is one of the most respected MC’s as he takes to Charlie Sloth’s studio to give him a Fire In The Booth. His wordplay and flow is exceptional, and this is the standard other rappers need to be looking too. From Drake’s‘0-100’ to Robin Shulz remix of ‘Waves’ instrumentals, he keeps the levels high.

Blue Borough’s (Lewisham) Dru Blu takes a totally British phrase ‘Let’s Avit’ which is commonly used at football matches or by people to mean ‘let’s have a good time’ in excitement as the name for his new track. Great to see UK artists capturing their British roots and essence, and Dru entertains too with the visuals for the track. Nice work!

Big congratulations are also in order for Krept & Konan who flew out to LA for the BET Awards 2014and bagged the award for Best International Act: UK. They beat Dizzee Rascal, Ghetts, Tinie Tempah, Rita Ora and Laura Mvula.

Last week was all about the ‘one to watch’ rapper Coops who has turned a lot of heads with his new mixtape release ‘Lost Soul’ with rave reviews and a lot of positive talk about the North London artist. Coops along with producer Talos have built a sound reminiscent to the golden 90’s era of hip hop. His style is well balanced and hard hitting, neither too road nor too conscious. With an at times almost conversational flow and easy to relate to content, once paired with the classic hip hop feel of Talos’ productions the overall effect is very satisfying.

He also dropped a new video to one of the tracks ‘So Cold’ featuring Benny Banks and Sophie Faith on the vocals. Make sure you download ‘Lost Soul’ for free now!

Little Simz is also another artist here that has blown up in the past months and everyone is raving about. She is on fire right now, recently opening for Schoolboy Q in London along with various other shows and accolades. After releasing the audio to ‘Bars Simzon’, she treated us to the Simpsons themed video last week. Her skippy flow, coupled with passion and raw energy makes you admire her and want to hear more. Look out for her E.D.G.E EP coming June 16th.

The most consistent rapper in the game right now again released another cover freestyle…can you guess who I’m talking about. That’s right after dropping his net video two weeks back, Stormzy took to his hometown of Croydon to shoot the video covering Drake‘s 0-100 inviting anyone who wanted to, to go down. He has definitely caught the attention of a lot of people, and his fan base is evidently growing weekly. I think it’s time for a full length project now from him…

Young Mad B released a 5 track EP ‘The Practice’ a series of tracks all done recorded acoustically. Back in November last year a video was released of ‘Big Homie’ done as an acoustic version, and it’s great to see Young Mad B taking this route and showing some diversity. I personally love hearing rappers recording tracks with instruments and live bands.

There has been an influx of good videos and tracks out over the past week that are of a high standard of quality, which is great to see.

Ghetts’ name was everywhere last week after his ‘Rebel With A Cause’ album dropped and he made his official chart debut. The east London MC has been causing a stir with his campaign, with a pop up free gig in Barbican and his headline show at the 02 in London on Friday. Congratulations to Ghetts on this achievement; it’s been brilliant to see an independent artist who doesn’t have to compromise his music.

Political Peak’s EP ‘Life’s Peak’ was released on iTunes on March 4, which featured seven strong tracks from the Brixton bred rapper. ‘Walk Alone’ was the newest visual to be seen from it since it was released, where Peak asks you to take in the story before he begins the track, talking us some real life situations.

As we know Giggs is one of the most rated rappers in the UK who made a name for himself with his unique style of rap and raw, authentic lyrics. His album ‘When Will It Stop’ was released last year, and last week saw the release of his track ‘Tick Tock’ taken from there produced by Bayoz Muzik.

Colours Miyagi is regarded as one of the pioneers in the UK rap scene, releasing tracks that will stay classics for many. The Peckham rappers previously released mixtape ‘Where’s My Money Reloaded’ which was released last summer was well received. He keeps thing flowing with a new track ‘Through My Lens’, a street banger showcasing his effortless flow and storytelling ability.

Youngs Teflon is another one that is up there with the best of them and he is due to release his 20-track project at the end of the month titled ‘Renaissance’. He gives us a taster of what to expect from the forthcoming tape by releasing a video taken from there called ‘Throwback’.

Cashtastic is one of the hardest working rappers in the UK, never releasing track upon track for the sake of it – he seems to have a plan. He recorded his first song at the age of 10 and now is only in his early 20’s. I have a feeling the ‘Alarm Clock’ EP (released Feb 9) is just going to warm us up for the release of his debut album. ‘Red Handed’ is the first release to be heard from the EP and really shows off Cash’s skills as a lyricist and artist.

Yungen turned 22 on February 1 and to celebrate he released a video for his fans, reversing roles and giving them a present! ’22 (Cake)’ produced by ADP is a fun track which sees Yungen partying with his boys in a flat and just enjoying life. I hope he got what he wished for on his birthday. ‘All I want for my birthday is some cake, cake, cake…’

South-East London rapper Benjamin A.D is one that I was surprised at myself for not paying enough attention to, as he definitely deserves it. ‘No More Drama’ is the opening track off his ‘Acknowledgments’ EP, which hears him talk about wanting a stress free life. The C-Major produced track is different; not a straight hip-hop beat, but flits into dubstep.

Another South London rapper is also back with his first track of the year. Joe Grind released a lyric video for song ‘Speaking English’ – this track will be on his forthcoming EP ‘Episode 3: Better Late Than Never’.

One of my favourite tracks off the ‘Class 90’ album is ‘Tell Em’ which sees Big Shizz and Kay Wills from the Rascals being joined by one of North London’s finest, Squeeks, along with vocals from Goldie 1 and Big Swingz. This collaboration has really worked so well together and for me will remain a classic – check out the video HERE.

The release of ‘Fire & Smoke’ was long awaited in the grime scene, but last month the album was released after a long hiatus from Big H. The Bloodline crew member is one of grime’s originators and helped lay the foundation young MCs walk on today. With this album release and his forthcoming clash with P Money on Lord Of The Mic 6, The Wrap Up’s Shireen Fenner couldn’t wait to catch up with Big H to talk sending, grime’s pop tarts and much more.

The Wrap Up: You one of the originators of grime music and your flow has influenced many. Who in the grime world would you say you have influenced?

Big H: I’d say I have influenced everyone that has come into contact with making grime, whether it’s producers or MCs. If they say I haven’t influenced them or they don’t know of me then something’s not right. All the great people that have got somewhere generally have and picked up a bit of the style.

TWU: Prez T and yourself have some strong connections to Manchester. Are there any differences in the scene there compared to London?

Big H: Manchester, London… it’s all grime at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where it is; grime is grime wherever you make it. If you’re a crap MC in Birmingham you’re going to be rubbish in London – it isn’t going to change. Even if I were in Afghanistan I’d still be spitting grime. Manchester is just a place where I went to display my music.

TWU: You’ve got the Bloodline album coming out soon. Can you let us know a bit more about it?

Big H: I don’t know if there are going to be any features, but I do know that there is going to be a full Bloodline CD with me Bossman, Paper Pabs, Meridian Dan, Prez T, 9 Milli Major and anyone I forgot. It’s going to be a hard album; we took time to make it. I think it’s going to be the biggest grime album to come out from the main crew; Boy Better Know, Roll Deep or Bloodline. It was supposed to be coming out around spring, but it could be a summer album. I’m waiting on Pabz to press the button.

TWU: Bloodline as a whole is doing really well individually, from Merdian Dan’s ‘German Whip’ to your release; what’s the rest of the crew up to and where do you feel Bloodline’s position is in grime right now?

Big H: Bloodline is at the top of grime. Anyone I really associate with gets somewhere in their career. I’m not saying it to try and big myself up and all that; you can see with the whole Meridian thing, people went on to do big things. The same thing is happening with Bloodline now, people are doing big things. Meridian Dan is doing better, as an MC that was in the background to come to the forefront, it was because of people like me who believed they could get to that point. Same thing I did with Skepta… he was a DJ in the background at one time; with the right influence and push you can go forward.

TWU: You are known for making extremely bold, brash and overly confident statements. What makes you so confident, and what are the downsides of saying some of the things you have said or the bars you have written? Any regrets?

Big H: When I listen to my bars and other peoples, I feel that mine sound better. That confidence when you’re better than other people at MCing makes you confident when it comes to music. I don’t think my statements are bold or outlandish, I just think they’re facts. In a world of lies, facts stand out because there’s not many facts being said. [Laughs] You can call me the grime lord, I’m here to lay down the commandments. I give people what they want.

TWU: You used a phrase in an interview once saying ‘sweet sort of grime MC’s pop tarts’ – which artists would you apply this statement to?

Big H: Skepta, JME, Wiley and anyone that associates with them and is featured with them.

TWU: You’re clashing P Money in LOTM 6. How are you feeling about the clash and why do you feel now is the right time to be on LOTM?

Big H: I think it’s a great time for me to clash P Money and it’s good for me because I’m getting paid to do something that I like doing – pissing off MCs. P Money’s going to lose on the day. It’s like Tyson fighting Bruno, he’s Bruno and I’m Tyson [laughs]. I hope people will be entertained.

TWU: With two such big names, there is a high probability of one of you walking away worse for wear. Do you think that this clash could negatively affect either of you in your careers?

Big H: No I don’t think anyone’s career could be bent; it’s just music. I think it will boost his career; me chiefing him up will make him more popular… just like it made Manga and Scratchy and others more popular. P Money’s not a big MC, people keep saying to me ‘two big MC’s’… he’s not big. Me? I’m actually big; I created the foundation that he’s walking on today. He’s only just come around, he’s part of the new world order – I’m a grime lord. I’d give anyone a try; Jammer’s signing the cheque and he’s paying the right money, so it’s going to happen.

TWU:You’ve promised some big collaborations in 2014, so what can we look forward to from you this year?

Big H: I’ve got another project being released half way through the year that I’m going to be announcing in the next month or so… I’m just finalizing everything. There will be a lot of names on there that I’ve never collaborated with before.

There was very sad news last week that the young and talented emcee Depzman aged 18 was killed outside a nightclub in Birmingham. He was at the venue because of an event honouring another knife victim Kyle Sheehan who was stabbed to death last year.

A lot of people were stunned and deeply saddened by the news about the murder of the Invasion Crew MC with Skepta saying “So full of life, so hype, he could never be in a room and you not know he’s there, SICK MC, overly loved and looked out for his people ” and fellow Invasion Crew member Jaykae “I can’t stop crying I jus wanna wake up and wish this is all a dream I love you so much ‪@DepzmanInvasion.” Two men have reportedly handed themselves in to the police. RIP.

There were two fantastic Fire In The Booth’sthat came out last week. The first one comes from one of the most on fire emcee’s in the game right now, Lady Lykez. She goes in so hard, showcasing her multi-dimensional flow and lyrics proving why she is one to keep an eye on.

The second one came from The Movement consisting of Ghetts, Scorcher, Wretch 32 and Mercston who reunited after years. Unfortunately there was no Devlin to be seen but it was good to see them back together again after six years. They took it old school with their bars and flow think Wretch in Combination Chain Gang.

Geko, USG’s youngest in charge released his first official single ‘Heartless’ last week, which went to no.12 in the iTunes chart. He dropped the video the next day and it landed on respected American hip-hop site HipHopDX, proving that good UK rap can be embraced by the US. ‘Heartless’ is a love story but not quite a nice one as it tells the story of the woman with a broken heart.

Squeeks kept things moving last week as he released the video to ‘My Scars’ produced by Westy, taken off his recently released huge 40-track mixtape ‘Presidental Musiq’. Squeeks shows off his gentle side in this one for his main squeeze.

Speaking of Squeeks since his falling out with Benny Banks that became public knowledge, there may be a collaboration between him and K Koke on the cards after he tweeted “RT IF YOU WANA SEE ME DO A TUNE WITH ‪@KokeUSG”.

I’m back after a break last weekend for the Bank Holiday where Team Wrap Up headed to Reading Festival and caught some incredible performances from Giggs, Mic Righteous, A Trak and the massive headline set from Eminem. It was definitely the best festival I went to this summer…

Giggs has really taken it to a new level with his next video to ‘Is It Gangsta? (Yes Yes Yes)’ as we saw the trailer being released last week. This looks more like a movie then a music video and we can expect the Mark Ronson produced track to be released on October 6th, so watch out for that.

Disturbing London rapper G FrSH dropped a video from his recently released mixtape ‘Legoman II’. ‘Wings’ is produced by Goldielocks and features a healthy line up of some of the best in out scene; Mic Righteous, Fem Fel and English Frank.

French rapper Frenchy Le Boss hooked up with one of South London’s finest Sneakbo for ‘Jump In The Car’. I was looking forward to this release after watching the studio session and am 100% feeling this tune. The two rappers compliment each other so well and I really like Frenchy’s flow. This track is taken from the forthcoming mixtape ‘Ces’t La Vie’.

In the run-up to the release of their mixtape ‘Young Kingz’, Krept and Konan kept their fans happy by releasing another video ‘Don’t Waste My Time’. Taking it back to their roots with the hard hitting production and catchy hook, they really have showed their versatility recently which we will see more of on the tape. The duo are set to be UK rap’s future stars, also previewing the mixtape online, hyping everyone for the release, which is today!

Top Boy hit our screens again for the second series and we’re onto episode two, so make sure you get watching as there is a whole host of new talent in this one including Cashtastic, Exo, Bashy and Lefty.

I’m going to end on a big release from last week and that comes from North London rapper who has impressed me for a while now, Squeeks. His mixtape has a massive 40 tracks and has some big features from Joe Black, Blade Brown, Youngs Tef and more. A lot of the production comes from Cakes and Westy who he was worked closely with previously.

DJ Muggs makes up one fourth of Cypress Hill – the groundbreaking Latino quartet and one of raps most successful collectives hailing from America’s West Coast. He is a true hip-hop legend and visionary, known for mixing different sounds to create innovative music – and his latest album ‘Bass For Your Face’ is no different. The Wrap Up’s Shireen Fenner talks to him about mixing the British born dubstep sound with hip-hop whilst featuring a UK grime legend and some exciting US rappers…

“Everyone was trying to copy Dr Dre and that West Coast sound. We pretty much did the opposite of that and did our own thing. You didn’t have to copy him to make a ‘West Coast’ sound – make your own style and sound! You can still be from the West Coast but stop following suit; bring something fresh to the table.

“I’ve been a fan of electronic music since day one. I started off playing techno in Detroit… back then it was all gangsters; the crowds were all pretty much Latino and black all the gang bangers were pop locking to it. Now I DJ a lot, and I always look for new music to put in my sets. I play a lot of electronic festivals around the world; I wanted to make more music to play in my sets so I made this record [‘Bass For Your Face’].

“I wanted to make it with an underground hip-hop spirit. Bring some of these hip-hop kids, open their ears and give them a different sound. A lot of rock kids back in the day didn’t like hip-hop but they liked Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, they liked Run DMC… I wanted to open their minds to different sounds.

“I wanted to get more underground MC’s like Roc Marciano. The song I did with Dizzee [Rascal] – I wanted it to sound like an 80’s West Coast hip-hop record. I have a friend called Bun B who is friends with Dizzee, and Dizzee was in LA and he said ‘I want you to get in the studio’. So he came through and we recorded about four songs; Dizzee asked me what I was working on so I played him a record aBun Bnd he said ‘I want to get on there’. I said ‘word, get on it,’ so he jumped on it.

“Danny Brown is another MC on the album and one of my favourite’s out here right now. I didn’t want a full song, just some words from him. Chuck D’s been a favourite of mine for years; that song has more of a rock edge to it, so I wanted him on that and we worked on it together.

“I have been coming to the UK since the 90’s, and I’ve spent months out there at a time. I used to go see Goldie and the Metalheadz all the time; I did some remixes for them. From the jungle days to drum and bass, 2 step days, garage days… for all that stuff, I’ve been over there. Last time I was there I went to a couple of grime shows – I love the energy. I was out there with the guys from No Hats No Hoods.

“When I first started hearing dubstep in about 2007, I was like ‘what is this?’ – it worked with hip-hop. What I noticed about dubstep was hip-hop heads liked it. A lot of them didn’t like jungle and drum & bass because of the tempos. They liked this because it reminded them of early electronic music… The culture is changing out here [in LA] too. A lot of hip-hop kids couldn’t mess with it because it was real funny – everyone had glow sticks and vaporizers over their mouths. Finally, there is a type of electronic music that the hip-hop and rock kids can get into, and not only the dance crowd.

“What made me take notice of dubstep were the early Rusko records, the early Benga and Skream records and all those early Loefah records. Loefah had me when I first heard him – I was like ‘what the f**k is that?’ Loefah’s s**t was banging. I would love to work with anyone of them guys. Anything that inspires me to make more music and try new sounds and styles – that’s what it’s all about.”

Cashtastic is a rapper who over the years has developed a sizable fanbase, and even a publishing deal with Universal. Seeing his growth and determination to succeed really does prove that hard work leads to triumph…

Now he is in the studio with people like Esmee Denters. “I’m with her now. It’s just music. I’m just experimenting and trying to see what I can do; her vocals are crazy. We met through the label, my A&R just lined it up, it was a good move and I’m enjoying it.”

Speaking on the publishing deal with Universal, a massive step in an artist’s career, we discussed the advantages. “I can access a bigger and wider range of producers and songwriters. Not necessarily better than the ones I had before, but I was limited to what I could do. Evidently, since I’ve signed the publishing deal, I’ve made some massive records that I couldn’t have made unless I was in these sessions with these producers and songwriters.”

He has an EP coming out soon that he says will include “tracks that I had already been working on. It was inevitable I needed to put out a project anyway for the New Year. I didn’t want to do another mixtape so soon, and I haven’t done an EP, so it was the perfect time to get that out.”

Currently also working on his debut album, it’s too early to say exactly what’s in store – but Cash does know one thing. “It will be epic, I hate to sound cliché, but it will be epic. You have to expect the unexpected, it’s going to open a lot of ears and a lot of eyes. It won’t be out this year, for the rest of this year I will be working on it.”

We went back to an earlier phase of his career, to a mixtape he put out called ‘A Lil Bit Of Cash’, which for me was something that really got people talking about him.

“The release of ‘A Lil Bit Of Cash’ was important to me. I always look back at that [and] I don’t regret not embracing it, but I feel like I could have embraced it a bit more. A bit with the Universal deal as well. One thing with me – my gift and my curse – is because I love working so much, I always get tied up in working on the next thing rather than embracing the moment.

“When ‘A Lil Bit Of Cash’ came out, it was a great thing – I was 17 and my CD was in HMV, my music video was playing on BET, MTV… everyone was telling me and I knew it was going on, but I was like ‘what’s the next project, let me work.’”

He gives some advice to other artists about consistency, and that doesn’t mean putting out a track every week, it just means being relevant.

“I think to stay consistent you have to know how to pace yourself. It’s about understanding that your music isn’t enough sometimes. With me, there have been times when I haven’t put out songs but I’m still relevant, because I’m either at this event or doing this show, or I’m on this blog or that magazine. There are times I don’t put out music but it doesn’t mean I’m not working on music.

“With social media, a lot of artists are quite closed with exposing what they are doing, but I feel like that helps with consistency as well; because if you’re not releasing music but you’re on Instagram and Twitter and you’re not giving people something to look forward to, then they’re not going to know.”

We move on to talk about women – as Cash is a bit of a ladies man, I’m sure lots of girls out there want to know what he looks for in a woman. “Obviously I like a pretty woman, but primarily I like a girl with a good personality. I’m very bubbly and I’m not saying a girl has to be bubbly for me and her to be together, but she has to have a sense of humour, because I tell a lot of jokes.

“If I’m telling jokes and she’s not laughing then I’m going to feel unappreciated. I love a girl that has a good sense of humour, dress sense and ambition, and knows exactly what she wants to accomplish in life. Even if she doesn’t know exactly how she is going to do it, just the fact she wants to do something with her life.”

Would he date a fan? “Yes I would. My choice with that may change as my career goes up but at this current moment I probably would. I feel like she would appreciate me.”

So girls, have a sense of humour and make him feel appreciated… oh, and he likes Janelle Monae, Beyonce and Selena Gomez!